Zero to Zero
by The Slacker Hunter
Summary: A legendary hero who struggles to remember himself and a student who fails so badly at academics that she's considered nothing. What should happen if the two were forcibly brought together?
1. The Failure: Zero

This has been sitting on my hard drive for a little while, but I never got motivated to finish this chapter up in a way I'd like for it to end. Suddenly motivated to write those last couple of lines because of that sudden challenge, I present to you another wonderful turd of mine that I'll probably never finish. Fook yeah.

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><p>The Elf Wars had come and passed. All that was left in its wake was destruction and suffering. Most of the world was a wasteland, and the majority of the world's population was decimated. This was all there was to show of it, though. Wiel and Omega disappeared along with the Dark Elf, leaving X to rule without nearly as much difficulty as he would have, and letting Neo Arcadia be the prosperous city it was meant to be. Likewise, Zero slept, never again to be disturbed like he intended.<p>

Unfortunately, the crimson warrior wasn't quite done yet. While things seemed like they would be easier, they weren't what they're always made out to be.

-Summoning – Forgetful Awakening-

-_MISSION START_-

Today was the day. Today was the day of the Sacred Summoning Ritual. Today was the day the student nobles of the Tristain Academy of Magic would summon their Familiars.

Today was one of the most nerve-wracking days one particular student had ever felt.

This student in question was Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, the Third Child of the Vallière Family, and she had a nickname; Louise the Zero. Her success at magic was Zero, all of her spells exploded, no matter how simple they could be. It was only natural she'd fear of a screw-up on a day as important as this. Despite her boasts and false bravado, deep down she knew that if she failed this, she'd forever be counted as a complete and utter failure as a mage.

What she didn't know, however, nor did anyone else at the time, was that this day would mark the beginning of a significant change in everyone's lives all around the planet.

It was roughly an hour past noon, and Louise's class had nearly finished with all their summonings. With only a few left, that meant it would be her turn soon. Unfortunately, her rival, Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, had finished her summon, and it was of a rare and powerful Familiar; a Flame Salamander. What was worse was that this marked that she was next in line for the summoning.

This made her worried, perhaps even a bit scared. However, she knew it had to be done. Walking to the middle of the field, and releasing a small nervous sigh, she began the process for the ritual. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, heed my summoning, and bring forth my Familiar!" She says this while a pentagram within a circle appears underneath her feet. Normally, this is where the Familiar would appear, signifying a successful summon.

Unfortunately, the Familiar of Zero would require some more effort than just that. In an explosive cloud of smoke, Louise the Zero was gone, and while it didn't seem so to her classmates, for her she most definitely was.

* * *

><p>Louise felt something wet at her feet. Looking down, she noticed she was in shallow, murky green water. Scrunching up her face in disgust, she decided that unless she summoned some kind of swamp creature, something like this shouldn't be here. Looking up, her face quickly switches to that of surprise.<p>

This was most definitely _not_ the Tristain Academy of Magic.

Instead of a beautiful blue sky, vibrant green grass, and protective stone walls, instead she saw decrepit, rusting metal, glimpses of light barely breaking through the breaks in the damaged ceiling, and what was perhaps most odd, was that in front of her was the vague shape of a person. Venturing forward in search of answers, she discovers something somewhat horrifying.

This "person" was attached to a large construct with various… ropes? Something similar to that was attached to his back, and he was just hanging there limply, kneeled onto the ground. It also appeared he was missing his arms, or at least most of them. It was a rather grotesque sight, to say in the least. Walking closer to see if he was still alive, she got a better look at him. He was wearing a black, somewhat skin-tight suit, though it was torn in places, revealing grey mechanical parts underneath it. Similar parts were hanging off where his arms once were. His body was covered with heavily damaged red armor, some part having horribly worn gold details on them. He had a red helmet, cracked and damaged like the rest of him, and a cracked blue gem was on the part covering his forehead. His face, while dirty, was mostly unscathed, showing that he was rather handsome. Behind him, scattered amongst the ropes were long locks of blond hair. He would have been a sight to behold had it not been for the horrible condition he was in.

Getting closer, she grabs a hold of him, noticing his surprising warmth. This meant he might still be alive! Gently shaking him, she gets no response. Shaking a bit harder, she still gets nothing. She slaps his face. Nothing. She opens one of his eyes. She gets nothing but a blank blue staring at her, not even an iris.

Well, that last one was a little creepy. Since for all intents and purposes that this guy is dead, Louise ponders over her situation. She's in some old ruins with a dead guy. She performed, and most likely failed her Familiar Summon. So what was there to do next? Why get out of there, of course! Except for one problem; she didn't see any exits. Looking all around the area proved fruitless, signaling that she was trapped in a musky old place with a dead guy, soon to join him in his fate.

Thinking over as to _how_ exactly she got here, she realized that it was either the summoning's fault, or hers. After all, nobody ever said something like this didn't happen during the summoning, and for all she knew she might completely forget about this, like everyone else might have. Magic was strange like that. Looking at the dead guy again, she realized that if she was right, then either she had a corpse as a Familiar, or she was going to die. Reviewing her options, she decided that even if she was wrong, it was better she knows for sure. A useless Familiar, if she could call him that, was better than being dead, right?

Sighing to herself, she grimaced. This wasn't going to be pleasant, she knew it. Preparing to finish the Familiar Summoning Ritual, she readies her wand and begins to speak. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." After saying this several times, she prepares for the final step. She kneels down in the dirty water and grabs the sides of his helmet, making him face straight towards her. "This better work," she mutters to herself. She carefully presses her lips against his; again surprised by the warmth they held.

Nothing happens.

Sighing again, she resigns herself to her fate. She feels a lump form in her throat, and tears start to form in her eyes. However, before she can start crying, a bright flash starts coming from the corpse's body. Damaged bits start to reform, and arms begin to grow from the stubs. Looking on in amazement, Louise can only stare at the event unfolding in front of her eyes. After the body gets completely reformed and repaired, she looks at the face of the man, hoping for a reaction. Suddenly, his eyes open and stare at her with an intense blue, this time being complete eyes, iris and all. Jumping back in shock, she notices a bright, blinding glow come from beneath them. Looking down, she doesn't get a chance to understand what exactly is happening as the glow envelopes both of them.

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><p>Pink eyes, a look of surprise, and finally a blinding white glow. This is what he had first seen after waking up. But why was he asleep? Better yet, who <em>was<em> he? Did he have a name? Struggling to come up with answers to these questions was quickly becoming a headache. Perhaps it was better to focus on what was going on around him. Looking around him, he noticed grass at his knees, and a large cloud of smoke surrounding him. In front of him were those same pink eyes he saw just moments before. The owner of said eyes was a young girl with strawberry-blonde hair, almost pink. With the smoke clearing, he sees quite a few more people, coughing and staring at him, some of them pointing and whispering to themselves. Standing up, he reveals his full height, almost dwarfing the girl in front of him. The girl looks on in surprise, both around her and at him, though mostly him. Suddenly, a voice speaks up from the crowd. "Nice looking Familiar there, Louise," a busty redhead says. "I suppose it's befitting of 'Louise the Zero'." After saying this, she begins to laugh, with everyone else following her example.

Zero. That word sounded familiar. Was it something important to him? Thinking on it only brought up another headache, so he let it drop for now. Perhaps later when things had cleared up a bit in his mind.

A slightly bald man with glasses begins to speak with the one with pink eyes. "Louise, we need you to finish the contract, alright?"

"I think I already did, Mr. Colbert," she speaks up.

"Oh? Well, we'll just have to check his hands to see," says the one called Mr. Colbert. He walks over to the crimson-armored one and asks, "May I please see your hands? I'm not sure which one it would be on, but still, I'll check both to make sure." The crimson one looks at both of his own hand and notices strange marking on his left one. They looked foreign to him, so perhaps this is what the man is talking about. Offering his left hand to the man, Mr. Colbert looks at it with a little surprise, and then goes back to a neutral look. Saying a quick thanks, he walks back over to the pink-eyed one, who was referred to as Louise and begins to speak to her. "Well, Louise, I don't know how you already made the contract, but you did. Even with an odd Familiar, you've successfully performed the ritual. Congratulations!"

With this, the one known as Louise look at the Crimson one and speaks up. "You," she says while pointing to him, "what is your name, Familiar?"

Looking down, he closes his eyes and thinks once more. Still coming up with nothing more than a headache, he looks back to her and responds. "I can't remember." After saying this, everyone bursts out into laughter again.

"W-what kind of person can't remember their name?" Louise responds.

"All I remember is sleep. Anything before that only gives me a headache."

"Amnesia?" Mr. Colbert speaks up. "It's a possibility."

"But why would he have amnesia, Mr. Colbert?" Louise asks.

"Well," Mr. Colbert starts, "you could talk with your Familiar and try to find out. Working together, you might help him remember something. On that note…" Mr. Colbert turns and addresses everyone else, saying, "Class is dismissed. You have the day off tomorrow to allow you to get used to your Familiars. Now go and resume your regular schedules." With that, most of the students begin to either walk off, or fly away.

A few chose to stay behind, however, and one in particular was the redhead who made the comment earlier. She walked up to Louise, with a few men following behind her. "Good job Louise," she speaks up. "Not only did you summon a human Familiar, but one who doesn't remember anything at all. For all you know, he could be nothing more than a commoner in a fancy dress. Well, good luck teaching him all the wonderful things about this world all over again." With that, she and the others with her fly off.

"Stupid Zerbst, if only she knew the things I went through to get you," Louise mutters to herself under her breath. Turning to the man, she says, "You! Until I get your name, I'll just have to call you Familiar, got it! Now, let's go!" With that, she begins to walk off. Shrugging his shoulders, "Familiar" decides to just follow her.

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><p>As Louise enters her room, the crimson-armored man silently enters with her. Turning to face him, she speaks up, "Alright, Familiar, since it seems you have amnesia, do you remember anything about magic? Were you a mage of some sort, or were you just a commoner?"<p>

"I don't believe I'm familiar with the terms," the man responds. "If I may suggest, we wait a bit for things to clear up in my head. I might be able to remember something later, since all I get are headaches when I try to think of something. In the meantime, do you mind telling me more about this place?"

"Fair enough," Louise says. "You are at the Tristain Academy of Magic and for some reason, I have summoned you as my Familiar. Usually it's an animal of some kind, but instead I got you. As my Familiar, you are to act as my bodyguard and servant. Understood? In exchange, you get a place to stay and food to eat. Likewise, we'll try to help you regain your memories as best as we can, alright?"

"I suppose that's acceptable," he replies, "just so long as I don't go and do something stupid."

Glaring at him a little bit she asks, "Why would I do something like that?"

Shrugging his shoulders to signify 'I don't know', he leans against the wall and crosses his arms. Louise then speaks up, "I have my first order for you. I need you to undress me. Since you're my servant, it's only natural that you do something as simple as that. If you were once a noble of some sort, then oh well, you're a servant now."

"You can't undress yourself?"

"Of course I can! It's just that around here, servants always do that for nobles." she retaliates.

Sighing to himself, he gets off the wall and walks over to the door. "I may be nothing more than a servant to you, but I'm a person as well. I'm not doing something stupid and pointless like that. Just get dressed yourself."

"Wh-where do you're think you're going!"

"A walk. I need to clear my head anyways." With that, he walks out the door closing it.

Louise twitched her eyebrow. He was a servant, a Familiar! What, just because he had amnesia it gave him the privilege to just walk away from his duties? No, of course not! Preparing to storm off in search of him, she stopped, crinkling her nose in disgust. What was that smell? Looking around for the source, she realized it was her own clothes. How did they get that smell in the first place?

…Oh right, the ritual. The strange, somewhat disturbing one. What was the deal behind that anyways? Maybe he knew. Hopefully anyways, unless the amnesia made him forget that as well. Perhaps she'll ask him about that later, after she gets changed. Thinking that last bit made her a bit angry again.

Stupid, lazy Familiar.

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><p>I feel like I could go on, but I'll just stop it here for now. Next chapter expect more fightan and arguin than this one.<p> 


	2. The Warrior: ZERO

Closing the door, the red-armored man begins to walk through the hallways, thinking. He couldn't remember much, and the only thing that seemed familiar to him was the word "zero". When his master was called that, it felt like something he had once owned. But what was it? What did this simple word mean to him? Thinking about it brought up only more headaches like before, but it was his only lead. Walking through the corridors, he notices a few people milling about, but as soon as he appears they all stop and stare at him. They were stares of curiosity, amusement, disgust, and some even had fear. Was he that imposing? Sure, he stood out and was rather tall, but to scare someone like that?

He didn't like it. Quickening his pace, he finds an exit to the building and walks out. The night air feels cool to him, and the sky dark, but dotted with bright stars. What was odd, however, was the moon. Rather than one, there were two large moons, one red and one blue. Thinking to himself, he recalls that there should only be one moon. If he remembers that there's supposed to be only one moon, then why are there two? Let alone the fact that of all things to remember, why would it be something as simple as that? It was puzzling, to say in the least. Mulling over the moon bit, he recalls other simple things, like his planet's name, the name a various stars, and eventually a whole range of basic knowledge.

Along with all the mundane things that came back to him, he recalled one particular word that stuck out to him. "Reploid". Was that what he was? Although part of him wanted to say that yes, he was indeed a reploid, another part of him, deeper down, denied that. If that was the case, then what is he, really? Once again, nothing but headaches seem to follow such intense thought, so perhaps it's still too early to try to think over something like that.

Looking up at the sky again, he notices someone looking out their window at him. It's the red-haired woman from before, it seems. Staring straight back at her in her eyes, she flinches back, and retreats into her room. Did he scare her or something? It might be a good idea to ask someone about this later, as he didn't want to intimidate every person he meets. Looking at the academy's grounds, he decides it might be a good idea to get a basic map of the area in his mind. Walking over to the side of the tower, he grabs one of the stones that was jutting out slightly and pulls himself up enough to get his feet on the wall. With that, he kicks against it, pushing himself up and away from the wall, before using thrusters in his feet to push himself towards the wall, landing on its side. He repeats this process until he scales the tower to the top, making sure to avoid windows and being as quiet as possible. Looking down to see if anyone saw him out their window, he doesn't see anyone, with only a few windows even open. Getting back so he wouldn't be seen, he looks out at the rest of the area and notices that there are five towers set into the shape of a pentagram, each with a differently colored roof. With the setup, it appears more like a castle than an academy. In the middle of the area is a taller, grander tower, connected to four of the five towers. The only tower with no connection to the central one was the one with the purple roof. Looking at the ground, he made note of the locations of various smaller buildings, and a few large ones. Finishing up with his mental map, he decides that he might as well get some sleep. While he didn't need it, it would make time seemingly pass by faster. Laying down on his back and crossing his arms, he closes his eyes and sleeps a largely unnecessary sleep.

* * *

><p>It was dim. Around him were a few scientists and a blue-armored man. The blue one spoke up to him.<p>

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm positive," his dream-self responded. "With me around, there will only be more fighting. You saw what Wiel did. If I'm locked up here where nobody can get me, then you'll be able to lead and accomplish our dream."

"But with Wiel gone, nobody would be able to use you again!"

"That's what we thought when Sigma was defeated for good. Look how that ended."

Looking down, the blue one sighed to himself, and then looked back up. "Well, we'll all miss you, but we'll never forget you."

"Don't worry, X. Just keep those Z-Sabers as mementos. If necessary, give them to someone else if they need to use them. Just make sure it's going to the right person, alright?"

Nodding to him, the one known as X responded. "I will Zero. I'll make this world a peaceful one, where Reploids and Humans live together. My father wanted that, and we both have as well. Your saber will never be used for the wrong things."

"Thanks X. I know I can count on you."

"Have a good sleep." After X says this, his dream-self walked into a capsule, which hooked itself up to his body, and then closed. Shortly after that, everything faded to darkness, with the last thing he saw being X just standing there, looking at him with a saddened expression on his face.

* * *

><p>He wakes up, someone shaking his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he looks to his right and sees a blue-haired girl with red glasses prodding him. "Morning," she simply says. Getting up, he shakes his head and turns to her, noticing to see a blue dragon behind her. Putting this bit of information away for later, he asks her a question.<p>

"Do you know if my 'master' is awake yet?" In response, the girl shakes her head from side to side. Nodding to her, he begins to walk to the edge of the roof, only to stop. He turns to her and asks her another question. "Do I intimidate you?" Seeing her shake her head from side to side again, he gives her a quick thanks and leaps off of the edge of the roof, plummeting down towards the ground. Landing with a thump and startling a few nearby students, he walks to the inside of the tower and quickly makes his way to Louise's room, recalling the way he came the night before.

Coming to the hallway leading to Louise's room, he stops when another door opens up. Out of it comes the redhead from the day before, and she looks at him with a bit of surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here," she remarks. "Off to wake up Louise?" Nodding his head to her, he walks past her and over to Louise's door and knocks it rather loudly several times. Hearing mumbling coming from inside, he backs off to give the door room to open, after which said door opens and a disgruntled strawberry-blonde haired girl glares at him, then looks at him with a little surprise.

"It's time to get up," he says to her. With that, she retreats back into her room, closing the door in the process. He leans against the wall next to the door in wait. The redhead still stands there, with a look of amusement on her face. Deciding the silence was boring, she attempts to initiate a conversation with the man.

"So, remember anything yet?"

"No," Zero responds simply.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll come back eventually. I imagine you weren't exactly a commoner, seeing how you're far from the usual meekness of one." Raising a barely-seen eyebrow at that, he just stands there and waits. After a few minutes, the door opens again, with Louise coming out and looking far more proper than she did moments earlier.

"What do you want Zerbst?" she speaks up. It was less of a question and more of an irritated command.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know if you and your Familiar had made any progress on his memory."

Ignoring her, Louise speaks up to the man. "Familiar, for your disobedience last night, you're not getting breakfast. Now, let's go." With that, she begins to walk off. Shrugging his shoulders, he follows, not particularly caring either way at her declaration. "Since you won't be eating, I expect you to just wait outside with the other Familiars. In fact, you could wash my clothes while you wait. Go back to my room and pick up the dirty clothes, and then you can ask one of the staff members where and how to wash it." With that, she walks off, ignoring him. Turning around, he heads to the room while the redhead, Zerbst as she was called, looks at him with curiosity.

"You really don't mind not eating?" she asks.

"I don't really need to worry about food," he responds.

"But everyone has to eat, dear."

"You two might need to eat, but I don't have to worry about that." After he says this, her eyes widen a bit.

"So then, what are you?"

"I ask you keep this to yourself for the time being, Zerbst. You might enjoy the look on her face if I'm the one to tell her. As for what I am, I'm not entirely certain, although I do have a general idea." After saying this, he walks into Louise's room and spots the dirty clothes quickly, particularly because of their odor, although their slight dishevelment certainly helped. Grabbing all of them, he heads out the door and notices Zerbst still standing there, but this time with a large reptilian-looking creature that was letting off a fair amount of heat. Seeing him take notice of her familiar, Zerbst decides to tell him of her it.

"The sight is impressive, isn't it? This is Flame, my familiar. Unlike Louise, who summoned you, I summoned a fire salamander. And another thing; I'm Kirche the Ardent. Zerbst is part of my full name, but most refer to me by either Kirche or Kirche the Ardent. Well, unlike you, I need to eat, so I'll be seeing you around Familiar of Zero." After this, she walks off, Flame following her.

'There's that word again,' he muses to himself, 'and it seems certainly familiar.' Heading off through the halls to search for help in his newly assigned task, he continues his train of thought. 'Speaking of which, wasn't I referred as "Zero" in that dream? First, there was the blue-armored man. If I recall correctly, he was called X, and that name certainly sounds familiar. Likewise, X had referred to me as Zero, and that was just as familiar, if not more so. There were two other names as well, Wiel and Sigma. When I think of those names, I feel... hate. Disgust and hate, nothing more. Thinking a bit more upon them yields nothing else at the moment so it might be best to ignore them and focus on X.'

'Odd,' he continues thinking, 'when I think of X, I feel the exact opposite compared to Sigma and Wiel. I feel a sort of kinship when I think of him, almost as if he's... a brother? But yet I know that's not the case. If I know something like that for sure, then what else can I remember about myself?' Before he can continue, he almost bumps into someone. Stopping himself just before hitting them, he gets a quick look at her. She had short, black hair with blue eyes, and she was wearing a maid outfit. "Excuse me," the man speaks up, "but are you by chance a part of the staff?"

"Oh! Why yes, I am," she responds. "Do you need me to wash those?"

"No, I'll do it myself. I just need to know the location of the washing facilities. Do you mind showing me?"

"Not at all, come this way." After saying this she begins to lead the man off through the halls. "By the way, my name's Siesta. What's yours?"

"I'm not sure, though people have either called me Familiar or Familiar of Zero. It's mostly because I can't remember my name."

"Oh, that's not right. We need to call you something other than that!"

"It's alright, really."

"No it isn't!" she says while turning around to face him. "Everyone should have a proper name! So…" she stops to think to herself, as if trying to decide on something. Suddenly, she gets an inspiration and starts to speak again. "I've got it. Until you can remember your name, I'll call you William! How does that sound?"

Staring at her, he eventually shrugs his shoulders, not really caring either way. "It'll do, I suppose."

Smiling at him, she turns back around and continues to lead him to their destination. Finally arriving to a fountain with a washboard nearby it, they both sit down on its edge. Putting the clothes into a pile nearby, the man grabs the washboard and some detergent, and starts on the pile of clothing, scrubbing away at stains and removing odors.

"You said they called you "Familiar of Zero" earlier. Does that mean that Louise the Zero summoned you?" Nodding his head, she continues. "Do you know why she's called Zero?" Shaking his head in response, she then explains. "I've heard that it's because she always fails at magic. Apparently, every one of her spells ends up as an explosion. Odd, but still, I almost feel sorry for her, given that she's ridiculed so much because of that."

"You said 'almost'."

"Yes, well, I generally don't like the nobles here. Very few treat us commoners like people, and given that I've yet to see them treat even one of us as if we were a normal person, I don't think any actually do. Just because they have magic doesn't mean they can mistreat us, since we're people too."

'Treating people like lesser beings just because they were different than you, huh?' Zero thinks. 'Something about that just doesn't feel right. It also feels like something I've stood against before.'

Quickly going through the clothes, Siesta then takes some of them and brings them over to a clothing line to hang and dry. He picks up the rest and hangs them up as well. Finished with that chore, he then asks another question. "Do you mind showing me the area where the students eat? I need to check on my 'master'."

"Sure!" she answers with a chipper tone. Both of them begin to head off to the dining hall, reaching it in a short amount of time. The man heads over to the entrance, but is stopped by Siesta. "I'm sorry, and I don't mean to offend, but familiars aren't supposed to enter. I don't know what they'll do to you if you go in."

"I'll be fine." With that, he enters the hall and begins to scan the tables for Louise, Noticing the tables were filled with respectively matching cloaks, he goes through the middle table until he sees Louise's hair color. Noting it was distinctive enough that almost no one shared it, he begins to walk over to her location, drawing quite a few stares in the process. Once he was up to Louise, she had already turned to face him.

"I already told you that you can't have breakfast."

"I don't need it. I just came to see if you were done yet or not."

Staring at him with an expression of confusion, she asks, "What do you mean you don't need it? Did you steal food? You better not have."

"No, it's just I don't need to eat. I never said I was human, you know." After saying this, her eyes open with shock, and then narrow.

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"You never asked. By the way, your laundry's drying, and it should be done shortly." With that, he turns around and then walks out of the hall, noticing Kirche and the blue-haired girl from earlier, with amused and curious looks, respectively. Once outside, he leans against the wall of the building, waiting for Louise to finish. After a while, she eventually does come out. Heading over to him she talks to him in an irritated voice.

"We need to talk. Now." Walking over to a courtyard with the man following, she then sits down at a table, with him sitting opposite of her. "You're not supposed to sit there. It's for nobles only."

"I'd rather sit for this. As you said, we need to talk."

Nodding her head, she asks the first question on her mind. "You said you weren't human. If not, then what are you?"

"I think I'm a Reploid. I imagine there aren't any here typically, so I'll explain. Reploid is short for Replicate Android. They're designed to think and act just like humans, but because we're mechanical in nature, we can have more formidable bodies. Some Reploids work in special areas that humans can't, while others have simple jobs like that of humans. Since we have free will like humans, we're able to make our own decisions, hence the fact we're given strenuous jobs. Unfortunately, because we have that free will, we can also become criminals as humans can."

"What do you mean by mechanical?"

"Just that; I'm a machine. With metal and wiring making up a fair amount of my body, I can't eat food like you do."

"So you're like a golem then?"

"Not exactly."

"But you have a mouth with a tongue and teeth." She was beginning to get really confused, and her face showed it.

"It's for speaking," he answers, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"But how do you get energy?"

"I absorb solar energy. I just stand out in the sun's rays and I absorb it, kind of like a plant."

"...What?"

"It might be best to ignore the specifics for now, and focus on more important things. Your next question?"

Thinking to herself to absorb what she was just told, she then asks her next question. "Has your memory started to return in any way? Also, I'm going to need proof on that Reploid bit later."

"Given that I won't be eating anything while I'm here, I think you'll realize it's true soon enough. For my memory, I only remembered the Reploid thing last night when I looked up at the moon. Well, moons."

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed having two moons was odd, and I tried to recall why. After doing so, I remembered a lot of basic stuff; well, basic for me anyways. Where I'm from we have only one moon, with it being a silver or gray-ish color and being a fair bit smaller in comparison to these two."

"I suppose that's a but... unusual. Anything else?"

"I also had an odd dream last night. I'm not sure if it was actually me in it, but still, everything about it was very familiar. It was with me talking to a blue-armored man, and I said his name was X. When I think of him, I think of someone very close, like a brother of sorts, even though I know he wasn't actually my brother. There was also what he called me, although I'm not sure if it's a nickname or my actual name."

"Well, what did he call you?"

"Zero." After he says this, Louise's eyebrow noticeably twitches. "Another thing. Every time I've heard that term in my time here, it has sounded familiar. When they called you 'Louise the Zero' and when I was called 'Familiar of Zero', I felt like they were referring to me, even if briefly."

"We're not calling you Zero."

"One of the maids insisted on calling me William as a temporary name."

"Even if I didn't choose it, it's better than what you think your name is."

For some reason, he felt offended by this. "I'll figure out my real name soon enough."

"Did you get anything else from the dream?"

"Only two other names, and when I think of them, I feel just a cold hate towards them. I think they might have done something to me in the past."

"Just a cold hate? Odd... I just have one more question, and it's about when I summoned you. Normally, the ritual brings the familiar to the master, however I got sent to you. You were on your knees and held up by what looked like ropes, and you were missing most of your arms, with other parts of you ripped open and dirty. Also, we were in old, decrepit ruins of some sort. Anything on that?"

Thinking to himself, the man responds, "No, I can't remember anything like that."

Sighing to herself, Louise speaks again, "I suppose that this will do for now, since it's been only a day or so. We will need to get you a more proper name than William though."

"Well, it doesn't matter at the moment. I'm going to go check on your laundry, it might be dry soon." With that said, he walks off to where he and Siesta had washed and hung the clothes. Reaching the location in a few minutes, he sees Siesta already there taking down some of the clothes. Noticing him, she speaks up.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be back already. I was going to fold these and take then to Louise's room so you wouldn't have to."

"It's alright, I'll get them." Before she can protest, he already takes the clothing in her hands and folds it, putting it in a neat pile with the rest, and then moves onto what was still hanging, quickly taking it down and folding it faster than Siesta would have, keeping all of it orderly in the process.

"Are you used to this kind of work?" she asks.

"No, but it's easy. Really, folding something shouldn't be too hard."

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose it does seem easier than it is." As she grabs some of the pile, the man takes the rest and they both head off to Louise's room, reaching it in a few minutes without saying much. Putting the clothes up, he then asks her a question.

"Do you need to do anything else today? I don't have anything to do at the moment, so I'll gladly help you since you helped me."

"Well, if you insist. I'm supposed to pass out various sweets to the nobles soon, so if you'd come with me, please. And thank you for the offer."

"Don't worry about it, I just need to find a way to pass the time." Following her through the halls yet again, they eventually reach the kitchen, where Siesta grabs an already-prepared cart with various cakes and other similar food items on it. Walking along next to the cart, they go out to a courtyard with various tables and seats scattered about, and various nobles with their Familiars were there, chatting and getting used to each other. Siesta began to walk from table to table asking the nobles if they wanted anything. If they did, Zero would grab the item in question and give it to them, once again getting quite a few odd stares. As they went about, he saw a young boy surrounded by other students. It seemed they were poking fun at him, but Zero paid them no mind until something fell out of the boy's pocket. Walking over to it, he noticed it was a vial filled with a strangely colored liquid, possibly a perfume of sorts. Picking it up, he walks over to the boy and imitates clearing his throat to grab the boy's attention. Noticing him, the boy speaks up.

"What do you want, Familiar of Zero? I'm a bit busy here, you see."

"This fell out of your pocket." After showing him the vial, the boy speaks up again.

"Why, that is not mine," he says with slight trepidation showing on his face. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Zero replies, "I saw it fall out, so it must be yours." Putting the vial on the table next to the boy, he walks off, and then hears the other students raise a commotion again, this time over the vial. Heading off before he can get caught up in things, he goes over to Siesta. "Let's continue." She nods her head and begins pushing the cart from table to table again, both of them ignoring the spectacle surrounding the boy. Unfortunately, before they can finish passing out the sweets, the boy in question heads over to them, with wine in his hair and a red handprint on his face.

"Halt right there!" Stopping to turn and face him, both Zero and Siesta look at him in his condition. Siesta holds a look of amusement on her face while Zero just holds a steady neutral look. "Because of you, the reputations of two ladies were just damaged. I ignored the perfume in the hope that you would catch on and keep it for yourself, but you just left it there and allowed this to happen. How do you intend to take responsibility?"

Narrowing his eyes at him slightly, Zero coldly responds, "Do you even know the meaning of responsibility?"

"Well of course I do! Unlike you, who can't even remember his own name."

"I'm sorry, but all I did was give you something that fell out of your pocket. Whether or not this was a problem for any kind of plan of yours isn't my fault, as you should've thought of this outcome in the first place and planned appropriately." After he says this, the other students burst out laughing.

One of them speaks up between laughter, "He's right, it's your fault Guiche!" With this statement, Guiche's face goes red with embarrassment.

"I wouldn't expect a noble's wits from the commoner that Louise the Zero had summoned. I apologize for my mistake. You may leave now."

Shaking his head, Zero speaks up again, "When I hear the term 'nobility', I expect someone who's noble. However, all I've seen here are cowards who expect their names to do all the work for them." Turning around, he quickly mutters to Siesta. "Let's go." However, before they can do so, Guiche addresses them again.

"It would seem that you don't know the proper etiquette for addressing a noble."

"I do, actually. It's just that you aren't deserving of the title of a 'noble'."

"If you truly believe so, then I shall teach you a lesson about respect." Suddenly pointing a rose at the man in red, he then shouts, "I challenge you to a duel!" With this, Zero quickly turns around and faces the boy yet again, this time with a hostile glare. Guiche, however, is too caught up with his own theatrics to notice or care. "A perfect way to relieve some stress. I'll meet you at the Vestri Court whenever you finish delivering those cakes." With that, he walks off, followed by some of the other students who chatted amongst themselves excitedly.

Turning to Siesta, Zero speaks to her, "Well, let's finish up with those cakes." However, on Siesta's face was only shock.

"You're going to get killed."

"I somehow doubt it."

"But you've angered a noble…" With that, she rushes off in a hurry. Sighing to himself, he prepares to ask one of the students still in the area where Vestri Court is, but is stopped by Louise, who gets in front of him.

"I saw that ordeal," she says. "What do you think you're doing? Human or not, you won't survive."

"I'll be fine. Do you know where Vestri Court is?"

"I'll only tell you if you choose to apologize to him."

"I shouldn't have to apologize for his mistakes," he says to her. "Just tell me where it is." With that, Louise raises her arm to slap him, but is quickly stopped by his hand. She struggles to remove it from his grip, but she can't even budge either of their arms in the slightest. Letting go of her hand, he proceeds to ignore anything else she says and asks a student nearby for the location of the duel. After the noble boy answers he walks off, brushing Louise aside when she tries to stop him. Quickly reaching the area, he sees a large crowd cheering Guiche on, although there are a few separate from them whispering to themselves worriedly.

"I've heard that that commoner isn't even human."

"I saw him jump off of one of the towers and land perfectly!"

"He might be a mage who's remembering his powers. Maybe Guiche won't stand a chance…"

Ignoring them for the most part, he stops fifteen feet away from Guiche. The crowd quiets down and focuses on them. Guiche is the first to speak.

"First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!"

"Are you going to start the duel or not?"

"Very well then, if you're so anxious to be beaten, then so be it." After he says this, he flicks out a petal, which lands and turns into a statue of a Valkyrie. "Behold the might of my bronze Valkyrie! It's a shame my fine craftsmanship will be stained by your blood, but I suppose some things are simply meant to be." After Guiche finishes talking, the golem immediately rushes over to the man's location, intending on punching him in the stomach.

It didn't get the chance. The moment it gets close, Zero's armored arm intercepts its fist and throws the golem over his shoulder, smashing it into the ground and leaving a noticeable crater, as well as smashing the head of the golem. Gasps of shock and awe resound all around, and Guiche begins to panic. "I-impossible! No normal man, let alone a commoner, can so easily toss aside my Valkyries like that!" Immediately after this, he sends out six more petals which all turn into golems, although this time they were armed with lethal weapons, causing Zero to narrow his eyes at the boy. They quickly surrounded him, spears, shields, and swords all pointed at him. One with a sword rushed him, aiming to impale him, but he grabbed its sword in his left hand and pried it away, tossing it into the air and grabbing it by the handle. With this, the runes in his left hand started glowing. Taking note of it for later, he quickly slashes through the golem's shield and through the golem itself, cutting it in half horizontally. At this moment, a vision begins to occur to him.

He was still himself for sure, but instead of a bronze sword in his hand there was a glowing green blade, and likewise the golem's remains had been replaced with damaged, burnt machinery. Around him were similar machines, and they quickly rushed him all at once. Jumping up to a point where he's unreachable to them, he lands on the head of one and stabs the sword straight down through its core. He jumps off of it and behind another one, bringing his sword down vertically and slicing it cleanly in half. Another one close by tries to impale him with a spear with a glowing tip, but he grabs the spear by the staff, yanks it out of the machine's hands, quickly turns it around so the tip would face the machine, and impales it with the spear, after which he swings the impaled machine towards another, sending them both down. With only two left, they both attack him at the same time, aiming high and low to prevent him from jumping. Instead, he dashes back out of the way, and when the two were recovering, he dashes forward and slices through the two diagonally, letting them drop to the ground like their fallen brethren. Getting up from his position, he sees a blue-armored figure running toward him.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Zero."

With that, reality takes over. Looking around him, he immediately notices that the golems were all now defeated in a similar manner he had defeated the enemies in his vision. Likewise, in place of the blue one, he sees Louise, looking at him with surprise, awe, and a little anger. Did he really do all of this?

"Impossible. No one's been able to stop all of my Valkyries by themselves without magic!" Guiche suddenly speaks up, his voice laced with fear, and he hesitantly asks the man a question. "Just what is your true name, commoner? Surely you must have remembered something like that by now."

Once again, the question regarding his memories is brought up. However, even if he can't remember much about himself, there was one thing he was certain of by now.

"My name is not 'commoner', nor is it 'Familiar'." With a firm tone, he finishes, "My name is Zero."


	3. Information Acquisition

It had been several days since the duel with Guiche. Upon the declaration of Zero's name, Guiche quickly yielded, and everyone was stunned into silence for a while. But of course, with his name being Zero, some people still had to chuckle. The students had wondered if it was irony or some sort of joke, but they all knew that, despite the name, he wasn't one to be trifled with.

Unfortunately, this didn't stop the constant harassment of Louise, which only made her angrier at Zero. Despite being impressed by his abilities, she wasn't too happy about the name choice, and the increased harassment was what she had feared. Attempts to change his name were met with firm resistance, and she eventually just gave up. Zero himself had merely continued with his simple work as a servant, helping out the rest of the staff when he could. When he saw Siesta again, she was just as surprised as everyone else was at his victory. She brought Zero to the kitchen, and introduced him to the staff. They were quite friendly to him, congratulating him for defeating a noble by himself without using anything like magic, and the head chef, Marteau, was particularly happy over this development. He was a man who, despite earning the pay of a lower-class noble, disliked most nobles, as well as magic in general. He, along with the rest of the staff, called Zero their 'Red Warrior' because he had spoken out against the nobles and backed up his words by defeating Guiche. After being introduced to them, Zero was dragged off by Siesta to be taught how to be a servant, due to the fact that Zero, despite his memory loss, was sure he had never fulfilled such a role before. After going through the training, he had settled into a relatively simple routine, doing servant work for Louise and occasionally helping the rest of the staff out.

Today, however, he has nothing to do. He attempted to help out Siesta with her duties, but she had simply shooed him away, wishing for him to have a break. The rest of the staff had reacted in a similar manner, apparently adamant on giving him his "day off". Sitting in Louise's room, with Louise herself preparing her note-taking materials for class, he thinks over his options. 'On one hand, I could go and check out what these runes mean. However, there's still a lot I don't know about magic. I suppose I could ask Louise about them, or at the very least the magic.'

"Hey, Louise," Zero speaks up. "Do you know anything about the runes that formed on my hand?"

"Huh? Is there something wrong with them?" she asks.

"No, I'm just curious if they mean anything in particular. I never did get that fully explained."

"They're probably just regular familiar runes. They signify what kind of familiar the master has," Louise replies.

"If that's the case, then what does that mean for me?"

Scrunching up her forehead, she answers. "You know, I'm not entirely sure myself. Most students don't really take the time to look up the runes of their familiar."

"Do you think they're special? I'm not exactly a normal familiar, if you haven't noticed."

"I'm not an expert in these kinds of runes I'm afraid. They might have something in the library about them, though."

"Well," Zero says while getting out of the chair, "it might be a good idea to check in case it means anything important."

"There's a problem with that," Louise responds while also getting out of her own chair. "Familiars aren't allowed into the library."

"Do you think they'd make a special exception for me?"

"Most likely no," Louise says with a somewhat apologetic expression on her face. "Only someone like the headmaster could give permission for that." With this she opens the door and begins to head out. "I'm going off to my classes. I'll be back in a few hours."

After she had closed the door, Zero began musing to himself. "Only the headmaster, huh…" With his plans set, Zero himself heads out the door, and begins to head through the academy to the main office.

* * *

><p>After the countless flights of stairs, Zero stands before an impressive, yet moderately sized set of doors. Rapping his knuckles against the wooden doors, he hears the sound of a chair being pulled back, and then the quick tapping of footsteps towards the door. Shortly after they stop, one of the doors opens slightly and a green-haired woman peeks out from behind it.<p>

"Ah," she speaks up with surprise on her face, "you're Louise Vallière's familiar, aren't you?" After Zero nods his head to confirm, she continues. "Are you here on some sort of errand for your master?"

"No," Zero denies, "I'm here for personal reasons. I need to speak to the headmaster"

"Oh! Well, I'm not sure if-"

"Let him in," the headmaster cuts her off from inside his office. Moving out of the way to comply, she opens the door completely to allow Zero inside. Once inside, she immediately closes the door, while both Zero and the headmaster eye each other carefully. The man was old, to say the least. His hair had long ago reverted to a gray shade, and its length, although nowhere near long enough to rival Zero's is still rather impressive, even if most of it only appears in the man's well-groomed beard. He wore a simple black cloak around himself, although due to its designs it could easily be mistaken for a robe of some sort. In his mouth the tip of an ornate pipe rests, his hand holding it by the other end, and from it smoke gently wafts up into the air, dispersing into invisible clouds the higher they went. The man fit the look of a wise, old master of magic so well that it might be considered an art form.

"So, this is the infamous Familiar of Louise Vallière. I heard you helped create quiet a ruckus a few days ago with the son of the Gramont family."

"He asked for a duel, so I gave him one," Zero responded. "That's all there is to it."

"Well," the man says while beginning to stroke his beard, "I always did think he was a bit too arrogant. It's good to see him put in his place. So, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from you? An errand for your master?"

"I need to get access to the library," Zero simply states.

"And what might you need that for, Familiar of Louise Vallière?"

Zero simply raises up his left hand and showed the headmaster his runes. "I need information on this." With this the man's eyes narrow, but only slightly.

"Miss Longueville, could you please leave the room for the moment?" With this, the woman obediently follows the headmaster's request, making sure to close the door completely after she leaves. "Tell me, have you had the chance to hear of the stories of the Founder, Brimir?"

"No, I haven't gotten a chance to learn much of anything about this land."

"I see..." The headmaster then lowers his eyes before taking the pipe out of his mouth and putting it down on his desk. "Roughly six thousand years ago, the Founder led a crusade against the elves to take back the holy land. Using his unimaginably powerful spells, he demonstrated the elemental affinity of the Void, which has not been wielded by another since. He himself also had Familiars, and one in particular was the legendary Gandalfr, who was known for its incredible skills in combat, particularly with weapons. The Gandalfr would protect Brimir during his spellcasting, holding off entire armies if necessary."

With this, Zero narrows his eyes. "I'm guessing this has something to do with my unique nature as a summon?"

"Partially," the man responds. "There's a bit more of a story behind it. Although I could tell you to read about it in the library, you won't find absolutely everything in the student's section. The book detailing your runes are in the teacher's section, and there's some other sensitive things in there as well that I'm not sure I could completely trust you with." Nodding his head in understanding, Zero continues the conversation.

"So you're saying I have the runes of this Gandalfr?"

"We aren't entirely certain, but your runes seem to match the Gandalfr's perfectly."

Frowning, Zero replies, "This implies that Louise is a potential Void mage, doesn't it?"

"Yes," the headmaster says gravely. "You can see the problems this would cause."

Closing his eyes, Zero then asks another question, "Anything else I should know?"

"Unless new information about the Gandalfr that hasn't somehow been known for the last six thousand years suddenly pops up, then no. However, you may want to study the effects the runes have on you, since there simply isn't much information known about the Gandalfr. All we know is that it had extremely high weapon proficiency, with a wide variety of weapons."

After a few seconds of thought, Zero then continues the conversation. "I've heard Louise is considered as a failure as a mage. You don't suppose a similar case to her has occurred in the past with other mages, has it?"

"It's a very good possibility," the headmaster says with a sigh. "After all, nobles are very focused on their status, and anyone in their families without any magical talent would be shoved off to the side and away from public view so as to not ruin the family's reputation."

"Certainly doesn't sound like a noble thing to do."

"I'm afraid that's how it works around here." Suddenly blinking his eyes, the headmaster then shifts the tone of the conversation. "You know, I don't think we've gotten a chance to properly introduce ourselves! I'm officially called Headmaster Osmond, though some simply call me Old Osmond."

"Zero," was the simple response.

"Isn't that the Vallière girl's... other title? I didn't take you the type to make a joke like that."

"It's my name as well, and I've had it for a while. It seems to be the only thing I can remember about myself."

"Some form of amnesia?" Osmond asks with some concern.

"Yeah, seems I got it when I was brought here. Not sure why, though."

"Well, if you've at least remembered your name, then-" Whatever Osmond is going to say quickly gets silenced by the distant noise of an explosion. The man then sighs and closes his eyes, already knowing the cause of the noise. "Tell me, have you seen first hand why your master is considered a failure as a mage?"

"...That bad?" Zero says while quirking an eyebrow.

"Sadly, yes. While she has plenty of raw power, her inability to use it for anything but explosions puts her at a tremendous disadvantage. As a result, she is mocked quite often."

"I've noticed," Zero says. "Well, thanks for the information. I suppose I better make sure she hasn't hurt herself too badly." With this, he begins to walk off towards the door until Osmond stops him.

"Before you go, I recommend to you that you learn how magic works in this world. If you really are the Gandalfr, then you will probably be fighting mages quite often in the future. I'll give you access to the library, just so you can get a quick grasp of magic as well as its various uses. Also," his tone becoming cautionary, "I wouldn't recommend telling the Vallière girl about this. She's not really ready for something this big, although she'll need to learn in due time." With that said, Zero nods his head and opens the door, walking out to head for the source of the explosion.

* * *

><p>After a quick stride through the halls of the academy, as well as several flights of stairs, Zero comes across the location of the earlier explosion. The door, although intact, had taken some damage on the side facing the classroom, while the classroom itself is a mess. Desks and chairs had been turned over, and several of them received enough damage to break and even shatter parts of them. Soot covers some of the damaged furniture and a large portion of the floor in the front on the classroom, indicating that as the explosion's center. The explosion shattered the window as well, and Louise, who is holding both a dustpan and a small handheld broom, is currently putting the few remnants of its remaining glass into the dustpan.<p>

"So," Zero speaks up, "you're the cause of this?"

"Shut up..." Louise mumbles under her breath, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

With a small sigh, Zero walks over to another broom and begins sweeping the floor with it, putting the debris into small piles. "You know, it's actually a little impressive. I managed to hear it all the way from the main tower."

"Oh just shut up about it!" Louise yells. "I don't need it from you too!"

Zero then stops sweeping. "I was being serious. I can think of quite a few uses for a quick, easy to make, and powerful explosive, although you might not like them." Louise simply gives off a small huff in response, and then begins to sweep up the piles Zero made, while Zero himself starts to sweep again. "Still, you must have a lot of raw power if you managed to make an explosion like that. It's just that whatever you're doing simply isn't working."

"I already know that!" she yells again, although this time sounding slightly less irritable. "Everything I've ever done ends up exploding like this. No matter how hard I study, it always has the same result."

"Perhaps it's the control method?"

"I've already tried all the different spells and elements, so what else is there I could try?"

"What about searching the library for alternate methods of magic control?"

"Tried that too," she replies, this time a tired tone beginning to form in her voice.

"Hmm... perhaps it's best I start to learn of the magic of this land. That, and see your explosions first hand."

"What could you do? Even if you learn how magic works you wouldn't be able to help me, since you're not even a mage."

"While this is true, a second opinion is more useful than you'd think. Besides, at the very least I could help in reigning in these explosions, assuming my suspicions are true." Zero then sweeps up the last of the dust into another pile, before turning his attention to the scattered pieces of broken furniture. "But first, let's focus on getting this room cleaned out. The faster this gets done, the faster we can help you." With this Louise sighs, then continues her job of sweeping up the piles while Zero begins to handle the furniture.

* * *

><p>"So, magic is divided into five elements, right?" Zero asks while pouring Louise a cup of tea.<p>

"Yes," Louise says while blowing on her cup. "There's Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, although the Void hasn't been usable since the Founder's time, with him being the only Void mage."

"So is there any way to combine these elements, or is it strictly that particular element? So far all I've seen is Guiche's golems, which I would guess gives him an earth affinity."

"You're right about Guiche's element. As for combining, it's possible as well, although it depends on the mage's power." She then takes a sip of her tea before continuing. "The first level is a dot mage, which is basic control of one element. After that it progresses to line mage, which can either be increased power in one element or control of two elements. From this point they could combine elements to make carrying effects, like wind and water to make ice. After line is triangle, and after that is square. It typically stops there, although it can go even higher in cases of particularly powerful mages. The more elements, the more variety and power of spells they'll have, although if they're focused solely on one element they could be unstoppable with it." With this, she takes another sip. "You know, despite your claims of being unable to eat or drink, your tea brewing has been getting better."

"I've… had help with it."

"Is it that one maid you're usually with?"

"Yeah. She's... been teaching me."

"I see." With this, Louise takes another sip. "Well, next time you see her, give her my thanks."

"Let's get back on track. Whenever a Familiar is summoned, does it have any relation to their summoner's magic?"

"Yes. Guiche has a mole, because he's an earth mage."

"So I'm right in guessing Kirche is a fire mage?" Louise's hand tightens slightly around her cup at the mention of Kirche's name.

"Yes."

"The blue haired girl's name was Tabitha, right?" After Louise nods her head to confirm, Zero continues. "What element would a dragon fulfill then?"

"Tabitha's a wind mage," Louise answers, "and a powerful one at that to summon a dragon."

Nodding his head in understanding, he speaks again. "I suppose this will be my last question. If the Familiar summoned represents the mage's elemental affinity, then what does that mean for you?"

"How should I know? You've called yourself a complicated golem, even though I still really doubt that, so for all I know I'm an earth mage."

"I highly doubt I'd be counted like a golem. Even if I have metal components, I'm made of other things as well. I also don't have any abilities related to fire, wind, or water, either."

Putting her cup down onto the table with a noticeable sound, she begins to speak again. "I know what you're suggesting. There's no way I can possibly be that kind of mage."

"I never suggested anything," Zero says while leaning against a wall. "Although, that doesn't mean you should ignore any possibilities."

"I know what you're thinking. It's impossible for me to have that element."

"If you say so," Zero responds, sounding somewhat skeptical. "Also, I got admittance into the library."

"And how did you do that?" she asks while eyeing him.

"I just asked the headmaster and he said it was okay."

"Y-you just casually went up and asked the headmaster?" she says while staring at him with wide eyes. "You should've at least waited to tell me before you do something like that!"

"He didn't have any issues, so I don't see what the problem is," he responds while shrugging his shoulders.

"Idiot," she mutters to herself while palming her head. "You're lucky the headmaster's so easygoing. If it was any other noble I'm sure they would've raised a fuss over this, and I'd be facing the consequences."

"I'll keep that in mind," Zero responds.

"Well," Louise says after finishing the contents of her cup, "I think I'm done for the day. It's getting somewhat late, and I'm thinking of heading out tomorrow for something. It's best I get to sleep early."

Zero then walks over to the table, taking the empty cup and teapot to be washed out, and speaks to Louise again. "And where might you be heading?"

"You'll see, since you're coming with me," she replies while getting out of her chair. "Just get me up at sunrise so I can prepare my things."

"If you say so," Zero says while heading out the door.

* * *

><p>Louise had taken the entire day off from school to head into town to shop for supplies. Earlier in the morning she had told Zero that he'd need a weapon if she was to feel safe with him around, and he had promptly agreed. To hide his odd features from the townsfolk she had given him a simple brown cloak, which had fit rather easily over his armor and covered most of his body. The only issue was that the cloak's hood couldn't fit over his helmet, so he had simply resorted to taking it off for the trip and covering his head with the hood. At the moment they were walking through the town's main street, vendors on both sides of the area attending to many of the people on the street. Louise, however, was looking for a particular place, and had given her wallet to Zero for safekeeping from thieves.<p>

"You people still use gold as a currency, huh?" Zero asks, peering into the bag and viewing its shiny, hefty contents.

"What else would we use? Everyone values gold, so it's only natural that it gets used as a currency," Louise responded.

"I suppose it makes sense in this society, but it seems a little odd to me."

"Well what would you recommend we use instead?"

"Paper as currency was quite common at one point where I'm from."

"Paper as a form of currency?" She gives him an incredulous look.

"It was easy to produce, lightweight, and because it's foldable storing it away to keep it safe from the elements was easy."

"If it was so great, then why did you switch it out for something else? Wouldn't it be too easy to recreate illegally?"

"We found something better, although I highly doubt it could exist here. For counterfeiting, we did have a few measures in place. On another note, how much further is this shop you're looking for?" Taking a glance around the crowded marketplace, he briefly wonders how so many people can fit into such a small area. "I don't think staying in this place for much longer would be such a great idea if you have claustrophobia."

"...Claustrophobia?" Briefly pondering the term, she instead shakes her head and answers his question. "It's just around the corner, alright? Sheesh..." Leading him along, she comes to a shop with a sign hanging above it displaying an antiquated sword.

"Is this the weapons shop?" Zero asks.

"Indeed it is. As my familiar, you need to find a way to defend both yourself and your master. Picking up whatever is on hand isn't exactly a good idea." After saying this, she heads inside.

"Logical, I suppose." With this, he follows her. Inside the shop, a man smoking a pipe eyes the both of them before standing up and speaking in a friendly, if rehearsed, manner.

"My lady! My noble lady! All of my wares here are real and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal here!'

"That's a rather specific denial you have there," Zero speaks up. "We'll be the ones to judge that."

"Let me do the talking, Familiar," Louise orders. Not really caring either way, he simply shrugs his shoulders and watches the two begin their exchange. "What are your finest swords that you have available?" Raising an eyebrow at the Familiar comment, the man walks through a doorway behind him, muttering to himself as he went into the back area of the shop.

Taking a glance around the shop, Zero eyes the various weapons strewn about the walls. Many of the finer weapons were put up on display rather neatly, although some of the less ornate ones were instead in piles or barrels, as if they weren't worth the effort to be sold. Hearing the sound of footsteps he turns his attention back to the counter, the man apparently having finished his search. The blade that had been brought out was a longsword, with a variety of fine details worked into the hilt and blade. Even the added hand guard didn't hold back in its presentation.

"This is a fine sword for a noble, m'lady. I've also noticed a lot of nobles picking up swords like this lately, apparently something to do with a thief running around."

"May I see the sword while you two speak?" Zero asks. Louise looks back to him, and then to the shopkeeper again. The man nodded his head, hoping that one of his potential customers was taking a liking to the sword enough to warrant a purchase. Taking the sword in his hands, he begins to study it intently while the other two resume their conversation.

"So a thief you say?" Louise starts up.

"Yes, some mage thief calling himself something along the lines of 'Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt'. He's stolen a lot from nobles lately, and they've been arming their servants with swords as of late for protection."

Zero had moved on from simply scrutinizing the sword to actually testing its movements, carefully swinging it around in his left arm. Although the runes on his hand started to glow, he instead focused on the conversation his master and the shopkeeper were having. With his choice set, he returns the blade to the counter and voices his opinion of blade, as well as of the situation.

"While the blade itself appears fine, in combat it wouldn't be of much worth to me. If I were to find myself fighting this supposed thief, then I'd need something sturdier."

"Yes," Louise speaks up, "even to me it appears rather flimsy. Perhaps you have something more suitable for my familiar's needs?" With this, the man eyes Zero cautiously, as if judging him to be a threat in his attempts to sell his merchandise. Despite this, he proceeds to the back of the store once again, in search of something to use.

"Are you familiar with swords?" Louise asks. "While your opinion is nice, I don't want to accidentally waste my money on a flimsy piece of junk."

"Your concern is perfectly justifiable. I myself wouldn't want my weapon to break in the middle of a battle." After he had spoken this, a quiet chuckle had begun to emit from somewhere in the shop. Whipping his head around to determine the source of the noise, he sees nothing but the weapons scattered about the shop, only causing him to narrow his eyes.

"Relax, I ain't gonna do anything to ya... although I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to." Upon getting a clearer idea of where the voice had come from, Zero rests his eyes upon one of the barrels filled with various swords. Before he could further deduce what had occurred, the shopkeeper had come back, and seemed rather annoyed at the turn of events.

"Hey, Derf! Quit botherin' the customers. Sorry about that, miss, but that rusted sword can be quiet a handful sometimes. Just ignore him."

"Rusted sword, huh?" Zero says. Walking over to one of the barrels, he grabs one sword in particular, determining this to be what had been the source of the noise earlier. Pulling it and its sheath out, he begins to inspect it much like the longsword earlier.

"Well," the sword starts, the top part of its hilt moving to simulate a mouth, "now that I got a better look at ya, you're kinda unusual. Not from around these parts?"

"You could say that," Zero responds. Taking the sword's hilt in his hand, he begins to slowly pull the blade out of the sheath, flakes of rust coming off as he did so. Zero only grimaced at the sight.

"I ain't exactly the prettiest sword here, now am I?" the sword dryly remarks.

"And despite that..." With this, Zero begins to run his hand along the blade's length, taking note of all the spots where rust had accumulated. "You're not an ordinary sword at all, are you? You're too big to be a falchion, even though you're single-edged." With this, the sword begins to laugh.

"We'd certainly make an interesting pair, wouldn't we? Tell ya what, have th-whoa!" Whatever the sword intended to say had been instead replaced by a cry of surprise when Zero began to swing it in a single-handed downward slash. Rather than stopping there, he immediately pulls the sword back up and to his side, swinging it horizontally, nearly hitting the some of the merchandise on the walls. Not yet finished, he then pulls it back over his head, the blade's tip nearly scraping along the shop's ceiling, before bringing it down tremendously fast, bending his legs as he did so. Apparently satisfied, Zero then sheathes the sword once more before turning to Louise and the shopkeeper.

"How much for this one?" Zero asks.

"But why not this one?" Louise responds, pointing to the sword the shopkeeper had brought out. It was a very fine-looking broadsword, somehow looking even fancier than the longsword brought out earlier. "That one just looks like a rusted piece of junk!"

The shopkeeper apparently looked very divided on which side to pick, although he ended up sharing his opinion of the broadsword first. "This is a very fine sword, crafted by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei. See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper said while pointing to characters written on the handle. "It's been magically infused to allow it to cut through metal like butter!"

Zero didn't seem to care, however. "If you're going to make that claim, then have something to prove it. Otherwise, all I see if a fancy display piece. Again, how much for this one?"

"Damn, he really knows what he wants in his swords!" The blade speaks up again.

Letting out a small sigh, though whether of disappointment or relief nobody could tell, the shopkeeper chose to answer his question. "Given how much of a pest he's been to me in the past, I'll give him away for just a hundred."

"J-just one-hundred?" Louise shakily asks. "And how much does a sword typically cost?"

"Standard broadswords cost two-hundred," the man answers. "This one would've been about three-thousand." At that, she releases a small sigh.

"Very well," she says somewhat wearily, "we'll get the talking sword. I hope I can trust your judgement, Zero." With this, she takes one of the pouches from Zero and dumps the contents of it on the counter, emptying it completely before handing it back. "Let's get back to the castle." With Zero nodding his head at her, they both head out the door of the shop.

"Well, although I didn't make much today, at least I got rid of that damn sword," the shopkeeper muses to himself after they leave.


End file.
